I make things

Tag: Origins

Here is my finished project. I went a bit over 800 words in the story…

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The title

What would be in Alisa’s purse.

Moo’s construction sheet

Moo’s turnaround

Alisa’s construction sheet

Alisa’s turnaround

Alisa’s turnaround with cat stuff

Heigh Chart

Storytelling pose I

Storytelling pose II

Storytelling pose III

Facial expressions

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The story

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The story again – if anyone would like to read it in the standard version

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One snowy day in the little village called Neverville, which happened to be in the middle of nowhere interesting, a little girl was born. Her parents named her Alisa and they were very happy to have her. The girl was special to her parents, like every child is special to it’s parents but this one, this one was unusual. Of course the parents were yet to find out about that, because for now, everything was normal.

One morning parents found her asleep in her crib, hugging a tiny kitten which was also fast asleep.

Firstly they got scared. Like every parent would, finding a stray cat cuddling their new born baby, what with all the diseases he could have brought with him, so they tried to get rid of him. But it seemed impossible, the kitten would always find his way back to Alisa. In the end, her parents accepted him as another member of the family. Alisa always made ‘moo’ like sounds when she saw him and soon ‘that kitten’ became ‘Moo’ but mostly ‘Moo stop it’, ‘Moo NO’ and other similar phrases.

One day, Alisa grew a real pair of cat ears, a tail and whiskers. Just like that. She was playing on the carpet until she got tired and fell asleep. And all of a sudden, she was half-cat. Her parents were terrified. What if someone sees her? Someone will surely come and take her away. They will run millions of tests on her and her parents would never see her again. Fortunately, soon after, they decided that in the shade of night, they will move to the mountains, Alisa woke up and all the cat parts vanished and never came back.

Moo and Alisa were always together. Eating, crying, sleeping… growing. The last one was particularly odd to see. It’s wasn’t just usual growing, they were growing equally, growing with the same speed, so when Alisa turned 10, Moo was at the mental and physical age of a 6-month old cat, or a kitten, you know… in between. But they were still, always together EVERYWHERE. Moo certainly didn’t care that he’s wasn’t allowed to go into the dentist’s office or into the school.

Of course, her parents were worried, actually, they were worried all the time. Their daughter’s only friend was a cat. She wasn’t a bad kid, she just wanted to be left alone untill the time when she didn’t. But quite often she would get annoyed with someone else’s presence very quickly and sometimes she would become very moody. Like a cat.

Time passes and not much changed. Alisa finished law at university. All the boys wanted to date her and every sport club dreamed of having her in the team. But Alisa, as a proper cat would, didn’t care about it all. She went to university for her parents, so they stopped worrying so much. She used to say that all boys are stupid like ‘most of the dogs’, sport was good but too easy and she was bored of doing what she was told. Basically, she had her own plan, which was having no plan at all. And Moo, he followed Alisa everywhere and their points of view were identical.

They would sleep ’till noon, then they would go to the woods, and spend all day there, climbing trees, lying in the meadows & catching insects. In the evenings, they would sit in the front room with her parents and they would watch all the good, old films. You could say that they were the happiest and the laziest pair of friends in the whole universe.

From time to time, mum or dad would say something about Alisa’s future but every time she would quickly change the subject. She didn’t want to think about the future. In the end, life is happening here and now, and tomorrow might not come.

It’s been three months since Alisa finished university and was she just wandering around with Moo. It was a Friday and mum said that they were going to grandma’s for the weekend. Grandma lived in New Park City which was around 50 kilometres away from the village. The city was full of stray cats and feral dogs, streets crowded with mean, badly smelling people and loud ugly cars. It was dirty and you would never find trees or flowers in it. It was like hell. Alisa and Moo could never understand why grandma lived in a place like this. She didn’t fit in there. She was a nice little lady who always ate 2 soft-boiled eggs with a freshly baked roll with butter for breakfast, she would only drink coffee made with milk instead of water and she liked to read a lot. Her house was full of flowers and she had a fat old dog who just wanted to be stroked all the time.

That evening, Alisa and Moo came back home early and went straight to bed, hoping that it would make tomorrow come sooner, and that grandma will have some treats for them.

The journey to New Park City usually takes one hour in dad’s old car. Mum keeps trying to convince him to get a new one, but he just loves this old cranky thing. He would play Simon and Garfunkel on the old cassette radio, sing to it and pretend that he moved in time, Alisa with Moo would look at the landscapes around them and mum would try hard not to laugh at her husband singing. This time wasn’t different, and they arrived to grandma’s house in the blink of an eye.

They caught grandma baking a cake, Alisa’s favourite, the real cheesecake made with white cheese, with no raisins, anyone who puts raisins in a cheesecake is just a villain. Her parents and Moo went to sit in the front room while Alisa was helping with the baking. After a while, mum had said that her daughter desperately needed new clothes because she was starting to look like a stray cat. Of course Alisa wasn’t happy about that… she hated going to the mall, it was crowded and loud but mum wouldn’t let up and grandma promised that on their way back they’d stop at her favourite ice cream place.

Hours and hours later they were still at the mall, she lost grandma and her parents half an hour ago somewhere between the coffee place and a book shop. People were looking at her and Moo again, like they were some sort of circus attraction. She was getting hot and tired, and she just wanted to go outside. In the crowd she noticed one of the small outside doors. The need of fresh air won with the need of finding her parents and grandma. In the end, they could wait five more minutes.

The door led to a very thin and long alley. It was so dirty that everything seemed to be black. Black walls, road, windows. Puffs of steam were coming out of the pipes all over the place. It was getting dark.

The street started spinning and everything was getting blurry. Alisa felt like her insides were shrinking, street lamps felt so bright and she could hear every single sound of the city and it was getting louder, she felt like throwing up. She saw Moo, he seemed very big and her eyes were on the same level as his. Everything seemed very big, she could smell everything and she felt like everyone were looking at here. Then she realised that she was surrounded by cats. All sorts of cats, hundreds and hundreds of them.

The noise changed into a voice which sounded so familiar. It was Moo telling her that he was waiting for this moment all his life, all the cats were. That she was chosen to protect them and fight all who treat them badly. And that she will understand soon.

Then everything went back to normal. She was stood in the very thin and long alley, everything was black even the sky. She was thinking of what just happened, she looked at Moo and he looked at her. It was really late. She realised that she had better go back and find her family.

She found them as they were just leaving the shoe shop, they hadn’t even noticed that she was gone. On the way home, they stopped to get ice cream but Alisa said she would eat her’s tomorrow as she didn’t feel very well. When they got home, she went straight to bed. Moo lied down with her but when she fell asleep, he slipped outside in the night.

Alisa dreamed that she was floating on a sea of cats and they made her Queen, a Queen who was to marry a cat-prince, who turned out to be a vicious black demon, so she locked him in a jar…

The next morning when she woke up, Moo wasn’t there. She was scared. It had never happened before. On her desk she found a little note which read:

‘Meet me behind the mall in the darkest alley, at noon. Come alone.

M.’

She didn’t know what it meant but she got dressed as fast as possible and sneaked outside. It was Sunday, 9 a.m. and everyone in the house was still asleep.

She got to the alley at half past 10. And she was there, all alone. She decided to sit on a piece of cardboard which looked fairly clean. She waited very scared, she didn’t know where Moo was and who M was… and how he got in to her room.

– “You are early” – said a familiar voice. Alisa jumped.

– “Who said that?” – she whispered

– “It’s me. No need to be scared” – said the voice and Moo jumped down from the roof above Alisa’s head.

– “Moo! Where have you been?!” – shouted Alisa grabbing him and squeezing

– “I had to take care of things” – he answered with a muffled voice. Alisa screamed and pushed him away

– “I am mad!” – she cried – “…I hear voices!”

– “You are not mad, I am speaking to you. I’ve been doing it all your life but you couldn’t hear me until last night. I don’t know what triggered your transformation but you are changed now” – Alisa tried to move away from him

– “Hey don’t be stupid. You never wondered why I’m still alive and you now, young? I was sent here as a little kitten to take care of you and make sure that you know that you were chosen.”

– “This is crazy” – said Alisa with fear – “no, no, no – I am not hearing you.”

– “Ali I was with you all your life, surely you knew that it is strange”.

– “Yes, but this… Why me?”

– “Because you are special”

-”Why am I special?”

– “You just are and you are going to help all the cats on Earth because they need you. And I need you. Come on. I’m your best friend, trust me.”

– “I’m not sure if I’m the right person to do this, you know me. I’m no good with others.”

– “That’s why I’m here to help. Okay, so now you’re not screaming any more we should go home before everyone starts to worry where we are. You didn’t leave a note for them. Did you?”

-”No. Lets go.”

Moo spent the next month telling Alisa everything about the cat world. She found out that she could understand all the cats she saw and even some other animals. She couldn’t understand why it wasn’t all of them. She understood grandma’s dog but their neighbours Chihuahua sounded the same, just louder.

Everything seemed louder and smellier.

She got given the power of materialising cat ears, a tail and whiskers which sharpened her senses to an unnatural level.

Finally, she decided to move into town. She loved Neverville but the cat situation in New Park City was terrible. So she got the job in a boring law corporation, rented a house and moved to the city to find her destiny.

Her parents finally stopped worrying. Moo became her right hand and they fought villains till they all perished.

The world I created for my character gives me many ways in which I could continue the story. Character moves in to the new place to start her career in the regular life and as a super hero. I know it is a bit of a klischee placing a superhero in the big city but where else would you find hundreds of stray cats, also it is unusual that the hero doesn’t save people but animal who live among them(but I don’t say definitive no to saving people). I created the story to target wide range of audience. Alisa seems a bit cold but she has a good heart and who would want to have a cat for a friend, especially the one that can follow you around. Because we can see her growing up everyone can identify with her.

My story became grew long very quickly (it has around 2000 words) that’s why the end of it is so rushed because I realised how long it became.

The story in one sentence

It’s a story about a half-woman, half-cat who moves to the city with her own pet cat to fight the evil villains that have plagued the area.

The way of presenting the story. It was a last moment idea. I remembered how did the credits looked like in all of the Hanna-Barbera productions and I thought that it would be cool to try and to the same thing.

I am really happy with my character and I would like to make more. I was also thinking about creating a comic cause who would like a comic about a cat and a nice catwoman?

Drawing in a style of someone else was my first ever attempt to do so. An I must say that I like it. I think it was very helpful cause it forced me to actually think of what I am drawing because this time it had to be also designed. It gave me a little bit of trouble but in the end I think I have managed well.

I feel more skillful also I think that I started to understand the way that Hanna-Barbera and many others created their cartoons. This project definitely give me the idea about what is expected in the industry and how to become more professional. I also realised that I have to more often appear at the life drawing classes so hopefully next time I could make more drawings in the time I will get and so I could draw actually expressive and alive characters in all the poses I will imagine.

I had a real trouble with deciding what I want to do, but like most of the times (lately all the time) I ended up with something that contains a cat.

The Idea of the story

My characters name is Alisa and she is a human. Actually, no. She is a human sometimes, other times she’s a half-cat, or cat-human. Alisa pretends to be a human, she works in a big law corporation and her house is very modern, cold & boring. She seems to be like her house. Both of them have a secret. In the hidden basement you can find one large room with grandma-like wallpaper: fluffy carpet, cosy chairs, mattress and hundreds of pillows. It has a large aquarium because all cats like to look at fish (some of them not only like to look) and a fireplace because all cats love to be warm. The room is also filled with cat toys, books & DVDs, there is a projection on one of the walls. But the most important is the fact that one of the little basement windows is always open so every cat in need could come by.

Alisa’s sidekick is an ordinary looking cat named Moo, but he’s not ordinary at all. He lives longer than any other cat, he is more like a human that has changed into a cat (think of Salem from Sabrina the teenage witch). He helps Alisa fight the villains that are terrorising cats of the New Park City.

I’M SO EXCITED!

The character

I remembered how excited I was when as a kid I first heard that somewhere in the world someone created something about the cat woman . And then how disappointed I was when I actually saw it. I found the character extremely boring and just cold.

This feeling didn’t changed at all from that time, after I saw the Catwoman film from 2004 I started completely avoiding the subject. I even managed to completely forget the film. And I’m not sad about it.

Anyway, this whole disappointment of the image of the cat woman made me want to make my own, softer and nicer one and with a sidekick.

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About the style.

Starting with Preston Blair I expanded my inspiration to everything made by Hanna-Barbera. I feel the most comfortable with this style. I spend watching their cartoons my whole childhood.

My main character look is a mix of many other charachters.

Daphne from Scooby-doo

I like how her fringe is sticking out, also I like the shape of the face and eyebrows. What I don’t like is that her body (especially legs) seems to heavy.

Next I looked at Betty from Flintstones

I found that Betty’s hair is even better but her body still wasn’t quite what I wanted.

I wanted my character’s body to by more like Ms. Sara Bellum from Powerpuff Girls, nice smooth and curvy.

Then I remembered The Jetsons family

Bodys of Jane and Judy Jetsons are perfect, quite thin, actually proportional (Betty’s Rubble arms were way to big).

I have to admit that I also based my character on Meg from the Paperman. Its not like I wanted to because it is not the golden age but her eyes make me think of a cat. I think that the clothes she is wearing fit perfect for someone working in the law corporation like my character. And I like the length of her hair.The shape of her face is also similar to the ones above.

I am still inspired by Preston Blair’s style.

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Sidekick

First I tried to go with the cat looking a bit like the evil one from Powerpuff Girls

but soon I realised that that’s not what I want. I wanted a regular looking cat.

So I based my cat a bit on the Top cat from the Top Cat.

I just simplified it a lot and made him walk on 4 legs like a regular cat.

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Sketches

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First sketches

Everything I drew on the beginning was not right. Didn’t look anything like golden age style, it didn’t even looked like my style, which is weird. I spend long time analysing P. Blair’s drawings and trying to understand what I’m doing wrong.

Preston Blair (24th October 1908 – 19th April 1995) American character animator. Started his work with Universal Studio then worked for Disney after that in MGM and in the end he worked for Hanna-Barbera.
Mostly known for his work at Walt Disney Productions, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
He’s first book ‘Advanced Animation’ was published in 1948 and is still one of the most important and useful books about animation.

I actually had a chance to look at the newer version of this book. I find it very useful. It’s full of many tips and tricks that help to make animation more believable and alive. It also helps understand many matters of which you may even never think and they are really important(e.g like the way things move in particular situations)

Jay Ward ( 20th September 1920 – 12th October 1989) American animator and producer.
Mainly known for creation of Rocky and Bullwinkle. Owner of Jay Ward Productions. He designed Mr. Peabody & Sherman which was made in to the film by DreamWorks in 2014

I think that Will Eisner and Bob Kane don’t fit into my vision of the character. The style and the subject of their work is very similar, and it is not exactly what I am comfortable with. The style of Jay Ward is closer to what I am looking for but it’s still not it because his characters are far away from being realistic.The closest to what I want to make is Preston Blair, I really like his designs for the Flintstones. I also really like the way he draw women they are very neat, curvy and a little bit cheeky .

This project is connected with ALTER EGO project VI (the lair was created for characters designed in this project).

What this project has to offer is especially valuable. It will help me better understand the nature of the golden age animators, I will have time to practise drawing and actual design things in particular style. This is very important to me because I realise that being able to create in variable styles is a very useful skill in the animation industry. Also it would be great to have a complete character design in my portfolio.